The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1887-06-23
A STUPENDOUS STEAL.
THE ROBBERY OF JAKE SHARP AND
THE NEW YORK RK-ALDERDIEN.

cost Mr. jacob Sharp very near to $50,
600 to get his Broadway franchise from
the Board of Aldermen. This does not
include his 'uttorneys' fees nor ex-
penses at Albany in securing the passage
of the General Railroad act, which made
his Broadway franchise possible. 1t is
very we'll understood by those familiar
with the facts that tho total cost to Mr..
Mr.. Sharp was in the ncighbo1hood of
81, 300, 600.
What a costly franchise it would have
been, then, had he bought it at an
honest sale! He riSked $1,3O0,0OO of
bribo money, the chances Of a legal for
foiturc afterwards and Of tho criminal
prosCcution-tha has in fact come to
HMM the dishonest purchase rather
than TO attempt to buy the franchise at
its real value.
Tho twenty-five mcmbers of the Board
of 1884, Reading Clerk Maloney and
General Manipulation Keenan, pocketed
| 5000, 900 and sold the franchise at an
annual rental of 100000. They at first
gave 1t for nothing i'll excess of the 3 per
cent. on gross receipts required 10y the
law, but when the World, Mayor Edison
and the general public raised such row
about their cars, they had another meet
ing and agreed to demand of Sharp IN
annual payment of 4 per cent. ON
81 ZOO, ,0OO-or $40, 900.
1t is Il curious fact that many honest
but misguided people say about Sharp
and the Board Of 81 that we would not
have had a'raircad on Broadway Mt all
If the franchise hu,t not been given then,
and that the bribor and hribcd wcro
not, therefore, so guilty, after all. Let
us see:
The City of New York 10 getting from
the Broadway Surface knilroad Compa-
ny for what is probably, considering the
length Of the road, the most valuable
railroad franchise cvcr granted by IL
municipality to corpor0Iun, the sum
Of $1l ,Sl9.9i II year. pUis sum is mudo
up Of $4,000 year rent and ) per cent.
Of the gross earnings, which, on 81, ,0G1, .
GG0.SO, the gross earnings for the year
ended September 30, 1856, gnvc $3l, =
! SiO.94.
IN the course Of the Clcnry trial, Mr..
T.. Henry Incombc, Counsel to the Cor
pOTation, since appointed by President
Cleveland Judge OF the United Stutce
Circuit Court, was Oh the witness stand.
This WIS on March u, and during his
cross examination he WAS asked by Mr.. Ira
Shafer the following question concern
ing the amount received by the city from
| the broadway Surface Company:
''GOu regarded this as II fair rental,
didn't you?"
MIR. LMcomhc answered:
81 regarded it us quite sufficient to
protect the city in the percentages it
should receive. AS to rental, | thought
it q fair value"
MIR. Lncombc probably spoke without
consideration. Recent events, in any
event, prove him wofully wrong.
On May 30 lust-only IL little less than
two years after Sharp began to run his
cars on broadway Lhe franchise Of the
Twcnty-cighth and Twcuty-ninth street
crOsatown road and Cf the Fulton street
crOSStOwn road were put up for sale at
auction by Comptroller Locw, under the
provisions Of the Cantor Railroad law,
passed after the granting Of The Broad
way franchise. The former franchise,
for which there were two bidders, sold
for 2G.2 per cent. Of the gross receipts,
to which must be added under the Gen
oral Street Railroad law, per cent. on
the annual gross earnings for the first
five years and 5 per cent thereafter
The city will, therefore, receive 29.2 per
cent. on the gross earnings Of that road
for the first five Of It's operation and
3l.2 per cent. every year after the first
five years. For the Fulton street fran
chiSC there were three bidders, and it
was finally Knocked down for 81 per
cent, making the cityB rent for the first
five years 30, and 10 tor the subsequent
years.
AS the Broadway franchise is uu-
doubtcdly much moro valuable than
either Of these, it is snlc to assume that
the competition for it would have been
moro eager, and consequently That the
city would have secured considerably
larger percentage il, like them, it had
been put up and sold at auction. But,
admitting that it would not have sold for
any mOic thuu the twenty eighth and
IWCnty-Hluth siiVrt frNuchISr, how much
Is the city losing annually by the com
pnct OF It's corrupt UliCrmCn Of 1881 with
the cOYrtptln8 bOodl"rs who are r~aping
the benefits?
Ihc gross EARNINGS rt the broadway
Surface R2I,loAd for tn; year 1880 So
were 81 ,U6l, 6G5. 80. Thcy urc jikcly to
be larger instead Of 6muiUr ~ the future.
But, accepting that SUM NJ u fair basis
Of computation, &p.2 per cent. OF it
wonId glvO the city $3lO, ,OOG.II year
for iiyo years After the expiration OF
Ave years the city would receive, at 81
per cent, &33l ,23J.72 a year. AS the
city is getting only $7l, l,8l0.94 per year
under the corrupt disposition of the
franchise, it will loso $238, I5G.47 annu-
ally for five years, and afterwards $685.
}90. 78 annually forever.
If, as it would be perfectly proper to
assume, the Broadway franchise had
sold for as much as the Fulton street
franchise, it would have brought into
the city treasury $4C3, ,433 q year for five
years and 1921, ,G6G. 81 q year for all time
after five years. On this basis of calcu-
lation, then, the city is losing at tho
present time by the CO pit compact
$53l 1851 per annum, a.. . it will loso
aitcr the lapse Of four years from date
1852, ,8l6.38 year.
DO these figures make plain tho full
extent of the city's loss by the venality